Smokable hemp, or CBD flower, is one of the fastest growing markets in the CBD space. Marketing research firm, Nielsen, predicts CBD flower will reach $300 to $400 million by 2025 and represent roughly 5% of the entire CBD industry.
The Beaver State is a huge part of that industry. In 2019, Oregon had 1,642 registered hemp farms covering more than 53,000 acres. Oregon is considered to be one of the most progressive cannabis states in the United States, with other states often looking towards it for legislation and implementing their own newfound industries. In 1973, Oregon was the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis. This was smack dab in the middle of The War on Drugs too, which makes Oregon a trendsetter!
If you want to buy CBD flower in Oregon but don’t know where to begin - consider this the perfect place to learn.
Is CBD flower legal in Oregon?
Yes!
The Beaver State implemented legislation allowing for hemp production in 2009 with the passing of Senate Bill 676, though Oregon didn’t award the first licenses to cultivate hemp until 2015.
This is because hemp was federally illegal until 2014, and the state of Oregon was concerned the federal government would penalize them for growing it.
In 2014, the federal government under Barack Obama’s administration implemented a pilot program allowing hemp cultivation. From here, Oregon moved forward with implementing language for a bill passed five years earlier and Senate Bill 676 was officially in effect.
According to the Portland Business Journal, 13 permits authorizing hemp cultivation were awarded to Oregon farmers in 2015 - at $1,500 a pop. Some of these farmers even paid an additional $1,500 for a hemp seed production license, too.
The 2018 Farm Bill
In addition to that, The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the Schedule I Substances list, which effectively created a legal pathway for hemp-derived CBD businesses to make sales. In 2018, the American CBD industry skyrocketed - and it continues on an upwards trend today!
Hemp was classified alongside meth and heroin with no recognized medicinal value until this unprecedented move, so you can imagine how excited CBD enthusiasts were across the United States.
Unfortunately, high-THC cannabis or marijuana is still considered a controlled substance with no medicinal benefit, despite over half the country employing a medical marijuana program. The 2018 Farm Bill effectively skyrocketed the hemp-derived CBD industry, but Oregon was already ahead of the game by this point!
CBD flower wasn’t always legal in Oregon, despite the state legalizing medical marijuana in 2014 and adult-consumption just two years later in 2016. Like every other state in the U.S., it was all prohibited at one point and the belief was cannabis of any kind made you a loser. Thankfully, science is beginning to prove that idea wrong!
Will CBD flower get me high?
Nope. That’s the beauty of hemp-derived CBD: there’s no high!
Per the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD flower must contain less than 0.3% THC to be sold. If you didn’t know, THC is the compound responsible for creating a high when consuming marijuana.
This means Oregon CBD flower does contain a trace amount of THC, despite a common idea that all hemp-derived CBD is THC-free. The amount is too small to trigger an intoxicating effect, though, so don’t let that bother you. There is a slight chance you will trigger a false positive for THC after consuming CBD flower, so just stop taking it a few weeks before your test if you are concerned.
You won’t feel high from CBD flower, or any other CBD product derived from hemp! If you don’t want THC in your CBD, you might opt for a CBD isolate.
Experts advise against CBD isolates though, simply because a full-spectrum extract like this one produces something known as the entourage effect. The entourage effect is the idea that cannabinoids, like THC and CBD, work better together instead of apart. We explained a little bit more about the entourage effect in this blog post!
If you’re consuming CBD flower, there’s no way to purchase a THC-free variety. CBD flower will contain trace amounts of THC, both in Oregon and throughout the world. But even so, you won’t get high so don’t let the word “THC” scare you.
How can I buy CBD flower in Oregon?
There are a few ways you can get your hands on some great CBD flower as an Oregonian, but we like simple and easy. So, online it is for us!
You don’t need to visit a dispensary to buy CBD flower in Oregon, unlike medical or adult-use cannabis products. Fletcher Farms proudly grows the hemp used in our CBD products on our family farm, and we bring decades of traditional Pacific-Northwest farming experience to the table. We ship anywhere in the United States and bonus: free shipping on all orders.
You do need to be 18 to purchase our CBD flower, or any CBD product in the United States.
How do I consume CBD flower?
The easiest way to consume CBD flower is to smoke it! Our pre-rolls make it easy, you just need a lighter or match. CBD flower can also be purchased whole, which means you’re responsible for breaking up the flower and finding a way to smoke it. CBD flower pre-rolls are ideal for:
- People who have limited hand mobility
- Someone who needs immediate relief, like a chemotherapy patient experiencing nausea
- Individuals suffering from chronic pain
- People trying to improve their sleep
Please be aware: we do not make medical claims about CBD and aren’t suggesting it cures or treats disease. All of the current research available to us is preliminary, and CBD is not currently an FDA-approved treatment for any condition.
With that being said, the research we do have positions CBD for potential success and supporting evidence is continuing to mount.
Don’t want to smoke? No worries
If smoking isn’t your thing, but you still want to get all of the awesome benefits of CBD flower, you might try baking it. Don’t just toss it in a recipe and call it a day though, you need to decarb the flower before you infuse it. Decarbing your flower allows all of the cannabinoids to be properly activated, which happens when you smoke! You can buy a decarbing machine or bake the flower in your oven.
The easiest way to incorporate CBD flower in your recipes is to make cannabutter. You can make cannabutter with marijuana or CBD flower, the recipe is the same. Once you make cannabutter, you can use it just like traditional butter. Here are some ideas:
- Saute colorful roasted veggies coated in butter
- Whip up a yummy baked good like brownies or muffins
- Throw some butter on top of your toast and jumpstart your morning
CBD flower-infused butter
We recommend following a recipe to make sure you get the most out of your butter. Here’s one we found by Leafly:
Ingredients
- 1 cup of butter
- 1 cup (7-10 grams) of ground cannabis, decarboxylated
Instructions
- Decarb the cannabis. Preheat your oven to 245ºF. Place cannabis buds on a non-stick, oven-safe tray. Cover the tray with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Insert the tray into the oven and set a timer for 30-40 minutes. Older, drier cannabis may require less time. (Tip: you can also set your oven to 300ºF and heat for 10 to 18 minutes, although low-and-slow is the recommended approach when decarbing to better preserve the cannabinoids.) Every 10 minutes, gently mix the buds with a light shake of the tray to expose the surface area of the buds equally.
- Grind. Grind the decarboxylated cannabis coarsely with a hand grinder.
- Melt the butter. Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of butter into a stock pot or saucepan. Simmer on low and let the butter melt. Adding water helps to regulate the temperature and prevents the butter from scorching.
- Add the cannabis. As the butter begins to melt, add in your coarsely ground cannabis product.
- Simmer. Maintain low heat (ideally above 160ºF but never exceeding 200ºF) and let the mixture simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture should never come to a full boil.
- Strain the cannabutter. Set a funnel on top of a jar and line it with cheesecloth. Once the butter has cooled off, pour it over the cheesecloth funnel and allow it to strain freely. (Tip: Squeezing the cheesecloth may push more bad-tasting plant material through).
- Refrigerate the jar of butter. If excess water forms at the bottom of the jar, you can remove the solid butter with a knife and drain the water out. (The butter will need to refrigerate for about an hour before removing the water.)
- Dose carefully. Refer to dosing information below before adding your butter to any snacks, dishes, or desserts.
Final Thoughts
The choice to consume CBD flower is a decision to be made between you and your physician. While there are typically no adverse effects associated with CBD, it can sometimes interact with certain medications. We always recommend you start low and go slow when introducing CBD into your routine.
